Latin American Special Economic Zones and Their Impacts on Regional Security.

摘要

Latin America is often considered the United States' strategic backyard. However, with the advent of globalization and technology, this backyard is no longer strictly 'American.' As the region becomes more accessible and readily influenced by external actors and the United States' security concerns focus elsewhere, a growing opportunity is present in the Western Hemisphere for organized criminal networks and terrorist financing to take hold. Although globalization provides Latin American nations with ties to the world economy, it comes at a price for regional security. Some of the most vulnerable products of a globalized Latin America are the Special Economic Zones in the region. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) throughout Latin America represent the delicate seesaw game that globalization and security play. Although SEZs attract foreign direct investment, fuel jobs, and grow linkages in local economies, they also are extremely vulnerable to crime and corruption because they typically feature reduced regulation and oversight. This is especially true in many areas of Latin America that lack institutional controls and infrastructure. Moreover, transnational criminal organizations in SEZs have been linked with terrorist groups around the globe. The entrenched permissive environment for criminal activity and links to transnational terrorism is a serious issue for regional and global security. This paper will examine the vulnerabilities of SEZs in Latin America through a comparative case study approach of the Colon Free Zone and the Triple State Border Area (Zona Franca de Ciudad del Este).